This green tomato hot sauce is a great way to use up all those autumnal tomatoes that are not going to ripen with the cooling temperatures.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Tomato Rot – lovely. Not.
So we were hit by tomato rot this year. Which is a real bummer because I had 8 different kinds growing, and was really looking forward to using them all in different ways.
I think it was my fault, really. I got carried away as usual and we kind of ran out of space in the garden and I planted them too close together in the vegetable plot. Lots of our beloved British summer rain didn’t help.
The only ones that survived were the tumbling golden tomatoes and thankfully, all the tomatillos. That’s because they were in containers far away. I had corn growing where the tomatillos were last year, so at the last minute, decided to grow the tomatillos in containers. Thank goodness.
So I picked all the tomatoes off the plants and got rid of everything in that particluar raised bed patch. And proceeded to make lots and lots of this green tomato hot sauce.
What to do with Green Tomatoes
Besides fried green tomatoes? I add them to salads, stews and curries. They add a lovely tart flavour, almost reminiscent of tomatillos, and are especially wonderful in south Asian curries where tomatoes are usually a must.
Besides that, I also make sambals and chutneys with them, but usually in September, when the temps are too cool for the tomatoes to ripen. Like the two below:
Green Tomato Hot Sauce Recipe
It’s a pretty easy recipe to make, a simple case of placing everything into the pot, simmering for 30 minutes, then blending.
And if your tomatoes are small-ish, of the cherry or small plum variety, you don’t even have to bother chopping them. After 30 minutes, they will be practically falling apart.
I wanted to keep the recipe simple, focusing on the tart and spicy flavour, with just a little help from a few aromatics. And that’s exactly what we’ve got here: it’s a very tangy hot sauce, fruity, spicy and sweet from both the vinegar and sugar.
Make it Hot or Not
This is completely up to you. Make it as hot as you want, or as mild as you like. If you want to make this green hot sauce spicier, use hotter chillies, instead of exponentially increasing the number you’re using. There is always a balance in any recipe, and as mentioned above, this hot sauce is heavy on the green tomato flavour. A small increase is ok, naturally.
I always have a number of chillies growing every summer. This year, I wanted to do only a handful, but erm, ended up having 12! Honestly, I do this every year! And then go crazy with where to grow them!
This year, I have the usual Peruvian chillies that I love Amarillo and Limo. Besides that, I’m also growing Aji Pineapple, Kashmiri chillies, Aleppo, Machu Pichu, Tabasco, Poblano, Black Lady, Hot Fajitas, Pumpkin Spice Jalapeňo, Eureka (still not sure what these are), Biquinho Yellow and Thai Demon. Huh, I think that’s more than 12!
Looking at the video, I think I went for a combination of Hot Fajitas and Thai Demon. I jotted down what I was using as I was making this hot sauce almost 2 months ago. But all sorts of stuff got in the way and now that I’m finally getting around to writing up this green tomato hot sauce post, of course I can’t find my notes! Thank goodness I made a video!
So the bottom line is, control the heat of the hot sauce by the type of chillies you use.
How to use the Green Tomato Hot Sauce
Like other hot sauces, sambals, chutneys and spicy jams, this green tomato hot sauce can be used in so many different ways. There really is no limit to its uses:
- on burgers
- steaks
- with grilled (or fried) fish
- grilled or fried chicken
- as a condiment with Asian or Middle Eastern meals
- it’s fab with cheese of whatever variety: camembert, brie, boursin, blue, etc
- great as a salad dressing, on its own or added to whatever you want
- as a marinade
How long will this Green Hot Sauce Keep?
Our green tomato hot sauce is pretty acidic (because of the vinegar and lime juice too), so it will be perfectly happy stored in a cool dry place for 6 months to a year. Once opened, keep it in the fridge and consume withing 2 weeks.
You can also give it a water bath to extend its shelf life. Here in Europe, we don’t habitually do water baths for our pickles and preserves, and it’s something I usually don’t bother with either.
You can read about sterilising your bottles and jars here.
And on that note, shall we get our aprons on?
If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!
And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
More Green Recipes
I have a few green coloured recipes on this site, like the super easy, Ginger and Spring Onion (scallion) Sambal, which I know you’ll love! And here are some more!
Images by LinsFoodies
Green Tomato Hot Sauce
Equipment
- Knife
- Chopping board
- large saucepan
- bowls as needed
- heatproof immersion blender
- ladle
- 3 jars with 250ml capacity (1 cup)
Ingredients
- 1 kg green tomatoes
- 10 green chillies
- 3 shallots
- 2 medium garlic cloves
- 12 black peppercorns
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 60 g white sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 60 ml white wine vinegar or clear vinegar
- 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice about 1 lime
Instructions
Prep Work
- Chop any large green tomatoes into halves or quarters, depending on the size. I leave the cherry sized ones whole, as they'll cook down and be soft regardless. Drop them into your chosen saucepan.
- Chop the chillies up into 2-3 pieces, depending on the size. If you're using tiny chillies like birds eye, you can leave them whole. Add to the tomatoes.
- Halve the shallots. You can leave the garlic whole. Add both to the tomatoes.
Let's get Cooking
- Add all the other ingredients to the tomatoes in the saucepan. So that's the peppercorns, bay leaf, sugar, salt and vinegar.
- Turn the heat on high and bring to a simmer. Give everything a good stir.
- When it's begun to simmer, cover, lower the heat right down and cook for 30 minutes, by which time, everything, especially the tomatoes, will be melthingly soft. Stir after 20 minutes.
- Take the bay leaf out and discard. The peppercorns will be blended.Using a heatproof immersion blender, blend everything into a smooth purée. You should have a light, pourable sauce.In the video, I add the lime juice before blending. It doesn't make a difference.
- Check seasoning. Add more salt and sugar if you fancy it saltier or sweeter. Stir in the lime juice and leave everything to simmer for 2 more minutes.
- Take it off the heat and transfer to sterilised jars. The unopened jars will be good for 6 months. Once opened, keep in the refrigerator. Give it a water bath, if you like.
A great sauce,I was looking what to do with my green tomatoes apart from chutney and this was the answer,and so easy to make,I’ll have my friends knocking at my door for more. Thank you very much
Regards
Stuart
My pleasure, Stuart, pleased to hear that you like it. I’m a huge fan too.
What a great recipe! We had exactly 1kg of green tomatoes left so this was just the sauce we needed! It tastes great. Thank you for sharing!
My pleasure, Lizzie. I’m so pleased to heat that you like it!
I’m salivating just reading the ingredients list! This sauce will be an instant hit at our place. I love how versatile it is and very different in flavour profile from our usual green chutney.
I tried this too with the peach one – just amazing! Thank you, that’s two new ones for us!
That sauce looks great! FYI, if the tomato rot was late blight, which is very likely, tomatillos don’t suffer from that, only tomatoes proper and potatoes. If you’re growing tomatoes outdoors in the UK, it may be worth growing blight resistant varieties. If you search online for Crimson Crush and Mountain Magic, you’ll find several varieties that are pretty bomb proof when it comes to blight.
Hey Robert, I didn’t know tomatillos don’t suffer from blight, that would explain why I’ve never had a problem all these years! Thank you for the advice, I’ll do that next year.
Last 3 years I was doing this, and for the first year I had so many that I made the green tomato chutney. This year I hold my hand and planted only a few. Luckily they are getting red just waiting patiently. This hot sauce from tomato looks like a good condiment to have in your kitchen, will be so versatile as you mentioned. Awesome share.
Thank you, Renu. It’s the first year I’ve had any problems.
That’s a pretty nice green tomato sauce to have in the refrigerator. It is versatile to use and must be tasty with burger.
Yes, it does. Thanks Jaya.